Schools, sports centres and libraries should buy more local produce to help
farmers in their local areas, Owen Paterson says today.

Owen Paterson, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary, said that public services had to do more to help supermarkets and businesses source locally to bring down the amount of food that is imported.Photo: REX FEATURES

Mr Paterson, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs secretary, said that public services had to do more to help supermarkets and businesses source locally to bring down the amount of food that is imported.

Britain imports billions of pounds of food every year – nearly a quarter of all food consumed every year – and ministers are keen to encourage more local suppliers.

In a speech today, Mr Paterson will say that Britain “need to make a significant dent in the 22 per cent of food that’s imported but could be produced here”.

In remarks released last night ahead of his speech to the Local Government Association's rural conference in Warwick, he said: “Businesses alone won’t make a big enough impact, we in Government need to play our part.

“The Government has set public procurement standards for food through the Government Buying Standard.

“I believe that local government has a huge part to play in supporting, and benefiting from, this agenda.”

He cited the Cornwall Food Programme, which supplies the Royal Cornwall Hospital as well as St Michaels and the West of Cornwall Hospital, as a good example.

He said: “They have increased the amount of fresh, local food they use.

“This has boosted the local economy, reduced environmental impacts and improved the quality. These improvements have been made with no additional cost.

“As we seek to spread best practice across the country, I’d love to hear from you of any similar examples.”

The comments come after school and hospital food was found to be contaminated by horsemeat imported from Continental Europe earlier this year.

Mr Paterson’s calls were welcomed by Councillor Andrew Bowles, the chairman of the Local Government Association’s rural commission, which represents councils in England and Wales.

He said: “Councils are in favour of local sourcing and try very hard to procure as much as possible from local suppliers.

“Overall almost 50 per cent of all procurement is with small to medium sized businesses and we’re keen to increase the share to deliver even more support to local economies.

“The primary concern has to be getting good quality, value and consistency of supply so we can provide nutritious meals to school children and those in care at an affordable price to council taxpayers.”

The rural economy is worth £211billionn a year and supports one third of English businesses, despite only being home to one fifth of the population. In 2008, Britain imported £31.6billion worth of food and exported £13.2billion.

Earlier this week Gregg Wallace, the Masterchef presenter, has said supermarkets should be forced to make sure that at least five per cent of their fresh produce is from local sources.

Wallace said he would like to see the Government insist on a proportion of food being sourced within 50 miles of a store.

He said he had previously tried to stay out of “anything political”, but felt strongly about the connection between food and farming.

The television presenter, 48, a former greengrocer and farmer, said: “There is a whole generation of kids growing up thinking that strawberries taste like those awful cold ones in the fridge in February, and they don’t. If we stop buying them, the supermarkets won't put them on the shelves.”